The Glencoe Club & Cannabis Legalization Like the rest of the country, the Glencoe has considered what impacts the legalization of cannabis will have on the operations of the Club. We’ve recently developed a Drug and Alcohol Policy to address our increasing responsibilities in managing the workplace.
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ithout a structured policy, members and employees would not have information to ensure clarity (in terms of rules and expectations) and understanding in making decisions regarding cannabis use. That, ultimately, would lead to difficulties. Instead, we’ve developed a policy. First off, I’d like to achieve some consensus on the language. For the purpose of this article, I’ll present two considerations: 1) M edical marijuana (Medical Cannabis) refers to the use of cannabis or marijuana, including constituents of cannabis, THC and other cannabinoids, as a physician-recommended form of medicine or herbal therapy. 2) Cannabis refers to recreational use of the same products outside of a medical recommendation. The use of the word “marijuana” appears to be waning as controversy exists as to what marijuana actually refers to. Historically, it was something of a slang term referring to the Mexican immigrants who used the cannabis plant as an intoxicant. As there is Canadian law around the phrase “medical marijuana,” I will retain the phrase to identify 68 glencoe.org
Derwin Parker Health & Safety Manager 403-287-4122 dparker@glencoe.org
the medical uses for the product as being separate from alternate uses. I further wish to identify that a difference exists between employees/contractors and members/guests of the Club. So, what does it all mean? Medical marijuana We’ve been dealing with this topic for a few years and have built up some comfort around it. We appreciate there are many delivery systems and types of medical marijuana including some that do not contain THC (the impairing component of cannabis) and we default to the following position: • The Club as a shared experience: We would request that any person using medical marijuana be considerate of the larger community at the Club. Smoking medicinal marijuana, as an example, would be requested to be inline with City of Calgary Smoking and Public Consumption of Cannabis by-laws where applicable. Smell and inappropriate usage will be addressed on an individual basis. Recreational use of cannabis I don’t want to appear flippant and say there will be no impact on the Club operations from the legalization of cannabis. That would be too easy. Yes, we’ll have concerns around impairment, smell and inappropriate use.
“The most obvious concern is impairment. The resulting behaviour might impact the safety of those involved (and others).”
